Life

tiger

Basics in Biology

parrot

primate

tree frog
katydids

Heping Zhang

chameleon
moth

caterpillar

seals

turtle

penguins

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http://www.dimijianimages.com

Building Blocks of Life

Tree of Life
Multicellular, eukaryotic
Plants
Animals

Fungi

Prostia:

Eukaryotic

Cell

Chromosome

DNA

Genome and Genes

RNA and Protein

Bacteria:
Unicellular,
prokaryotic

algae

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Online biology Book: http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookintro.html

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Cell

The History of Cell

Cell is the structural and functional unit of all living
organisms (a human has 100 trillion cells).

The largest known cell is

Ostrich Egg

Robert Hooke (1635-1703), one of the first scientists to

use a microscope to examine pond water, cork and other
things, referred to the cavities he saw in cork as "cells",
Latin for chambers.

Cells in culture, stained for

keratin (red) and DNA (green).

Mattias Schleiden (in 1838) concluded all plant tissues

consisted of cells.
In 1839, Theodore Schwann came to a
similar conclusion for animal tissues.
Rudolf Virchow, in 1858, combined
the two ideas and added that all cells
come from pre-existing cells,
formulating the Cell Theory.

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Rudolf_Virchow.jpg
http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookintro.html

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrich

Chemistry of the Cell

Prokaryotic and Eucaryotic Cells

Water

Ions

Nucleic acids

Carbohydrates

Lipids

Proteins

nucleoid
capsule

flagellum
Cell Cell wall
membrane

With or without nucleus

Animals, plants,
fungi, and protists
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http://www-class.unl.edu/bios201a/spring97/group6/

Cell Cycle

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Bacteria

http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/les4/euk-and_pro.html

Interphase

Cells can differentiate, migrate,Interact and

assemble into complex tissues and organs.
It goes through a cell replication, called
mitosis, in five major steps.

The cell is engaged in metabolic activity and

performing its duty as part of a tissue. The DNA
duplicates during interphase to prepare for
mitosis. Chromosomes are not clearly discerned
in the nucleus, although a dark spot called the
nucleolus may be visible.

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http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/activities/cell_cycle/cell_cycle.html

Prophase

http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/activities/cell_cycle/activity_description.html

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Metaphase

Chromatin in the nucleus begins to condense and

becomes visible in the light microscope as
chromosomes. The nuclear membrane dissolves,
marking the beginning of prometaphase. Proteins
attach to the centromeres creating the kinetochores.
Microtubules attach at the kinetochores and the
chromosomes begin moving.

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http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/activities/cell_cycle/activity_description.html

Spindle fibers align the chromosomes along the

middle of the cell nucleus. This line is referred to as
the metaphase plate. This organization helps to
ensure that in the next phase, when the
chromosomes are separated, each new nucleus will
receive one copy of each chromosome.

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http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/activities/cell_cycle/activity_description.html

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Anaphase

Telophase

The paired chromosomes separate at the

kinetochores and move to opposite sides of the cell.
Motion results from a combination of kinetochore
movement along the spindle microtubules and
through the physical interaction of polar
microtubules.
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http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/activities/cell_cycle/activity_description.html

New membranes form around the daughter

nuclei while the chromosomes disperse and are
no longer visible under the light microscope.
Cytokinesis or the partitioning of the cell may
also begin during this stage.
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Mitosis

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http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/activities/cell_cycle/activity_description.html

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Meiosis

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookmito.html

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Meiosis vs. Mitosis

Meiosis creates gametes (egg and sperm cells).

In meiosis I (reduction division), each chromosome is

replicated to yield duplicated sister chromatids.

In meiosis II, the sister chromatids separate.

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http://www.ksu.edu/biology/pob/genetics/defin.htm

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Human Chromosome

Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes.

The first 22 pairs of chromosomes are autosomes;

One of each pair normally comes from each parent.

The 23rd pair determines sex, XX and XY.

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http://www.vcbio.science.ru.nl/en/virtuallessons/cellcycle/mitomeio/

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UniversityCenter of Human Genetics , Duke

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Crossover and Recombination

Physical contact between chromatids may occur, resulting in

the formation of chiasmata (Cross in Greek).

Genetic recombination: genetic information (DNA) is

exchanged between two of the four chromatids.

A new combination of the maternal and paternal haplotypes

Central Dogma of Molecular Biology

DNA replication
Transcription

DNA

RNA

Translation

Protein

Function

Physiology

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DNA

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What is a Genome?

Deoxyribonucleic acid
Nucleotides comprises of:

It is the total genetic information carried by a cell or an organism.

0A phosphate group

1865 Gregor Mendel discover the basic

rules of heredity of garden pea.

0A deoxyribose sugar
0One of four nitrogen bases:
z Purines: adenine (A),
guanine (G)
z Pyrimidines: cytosine (C),
thymine (T)

1869 Johann Friedrich Miescher

discovered DNA and named it nuclein.

Hydrogen bond base pairing:

A = T, C G

1911 Thomas Hunt Morgan discovers genes

on chromosomes are the discrete units of
heredity

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Sequenced and In-Progress Genomes

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http://www.Bioalgorithms.info

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Human Genome
International

13-year effort formally begun in 1990

Aims

Sequence the entire 3 billion DNA bases

Dissect the code of estimated 25,000 genes that

determine the physical characters of the human body

Store this information in databases

Improve tools for data analysis,

Transfer related technologies to the private sector

Address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that

may arise from the project

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Nature: //www.nature.com/nature/journal/v419/n6906/fig_tab/419493a_F1.html

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Cost = $3 billions

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The Units of Heredity - Genes

Comparative Genomes
Organism

Genome Size(Bases) Estimated Genes

Human (Homo sapiens)

3 billion

20,000-30,000

Genes are made of strands of DNA.

The physical location of a gene is its locus.

Different versions of genes are called alleles.

Laboratory mouse (M. musculus)

2.6 billion

30,000

Mustard weed (A. thaliana)

100 million

25,000

Fruit fly (D. melanogaster)

137 million

13,000

instruction code of a particular gene(s), preventing

97 million

19,000

the gene(s) from functioning properly.

12.1 million

6,000

4.6 million

3,200

Roundworm (C. elegans)

Yeast (S. cerevisiae)
Bacterium (E. coli)

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

9700

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Regions in the Genome

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Coding vs Noncoding

Genes: coding for proteins or RNAs

Intergenic: between genes, do not comprise of genes,

junk DNA, may have regulatory functions

Genes

Genetic disorders are caused by mutations, in the

Intergenic / Junk

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From DNA to Protein

Replication

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DNA Replication

of DNA

Transcription

of

DNA to messenger
RNA (mRNA)
Translation

of

mRNA into proteins

Folding

proteins

into 3D forms

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http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/GG/central.html

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RNA (Ribonucleic Acid)

RNA vs. DNA

RNA is composed
of a four-letter
alphabet. However,
the thymine (T) in
DNA is replaced by
a uracil (U) in RNA.

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http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/GG/codon.htm
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RNA polymerase

DNA polymerase

one strand

double strands

ribonuclotides

deoxyribonucleotides

uridine (U)

thymidine (T)

http://www.specialedprep.net/MSAT%20SCIENCE/Cellular%20Biology/compounds1.htm

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Transcription

Transcription
Initiation

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http://www-class.unl.edu/biochem/gp2/m_biology/animation/gene/gene_a2.html

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Transcription

Transcription

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http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookGENCTRL.html

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Splicing

Codons and Building Proteins

The message encoded in

RNA is read in three-letter
words codons.

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Genetic Code

Code for specific amino

acids, which are the
building blocks of proteins.

The beginning of a coding

sequence: start codon; the
end of the amino acid
sequence: stop codon.

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http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/GG/codon.html

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Amino Acids - Building Blocks of Proteins

20 amino acids

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http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/GG/genetic.html

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Translation

Abbreviation with 1
or 3 letters

Protein: chain of
amino acids

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Protein Structure

Primary structure: the

amino acid sequence

Secondary: local in
sequence

Tertiary: 3D fold of
one polypeptide chain

Quaternary: Chains
packing together

Elongation

Initiation

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End of translation
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http://cellbio.utmb.edu/cellbio/ribosome.htm

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http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/GG/protein.html

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Globular Protein Structures

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http://www.aw-bc.com/mathews/ch06/fi6p16.htm

References

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Molecular Biology of the Cell by Alberts et al.

Genes VII by Lewin

MIT Biology Hypertextbook:

http://web.mit.edu/esgbio/www/

Online Biology Book:

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/
BIOBK/BioBookTOC.html

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